But the hope of snagging a winter-weight bargain seems to stir shoppers to unheard depths of rudeness.

The stories Aldi customers have shared online – some myths of course, but always with a kernel of truth – are something to behold.

Stock scattered across the store, left where it fell.

Dressed like this they should be easy to spot in the snow.

Stories about the one that got away. And worse. Much worse.

Lets go to the comments:

Saturday is Aldi's craziest day of the year. Credit:Liam Mannix

"Saw a massive fight at my local Aldi last year during the snow sale. 2 ladies were going at it scratching, biting and pulling. Then their husbands/partners starting belting each other up. It was a sight to behold" - OzBargain

"A woman was barging through people and even into me, i turned around and said there is no need to push, her response was "It's a f--king sale mate, F--k off! and repeated f--k off a few times" Before she shot off back into the chaos, her trolley was left there with her kid, i was soooooo tempted to just grab all the gear out of it and throw it back into the centre pile but didn't want to scare the shit out of her kid." – Reddit Sydney

"I am still having nightmares from last year's sales" - OzBargain

"I worked the open shift of the ski sale today. It's always a total nightmare. We actually had to hire security starting last year because fights have broken out on multiple occasions" – Aldi staff member, Reddit

"If you've never been to an Aldi snow sale then all I will say is it is a sight to behold and you better wear a mouthguard! It can get pretty crazy and not unusual to be 4 people deep and middle aged women throwing elbows and punches over a pair of ski pants! - OzBargain

The best targets, bargain-hunters say, are stores in communities with many elderly – "elderly people aren't super-interested".

People spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars on the cut-price gear.

Often they bring family and friends, to help and to fight on their behalf. There are reports in the media of queues of up to 150 people outside the store before the doors open.

Aldi even puts out its own guide, with advice such as coming early with a list, a plan, and a gold coin for a shopping trolley.

Fairfax visited a store in suburban Melbourne on Saturday, where scenes were chaotic but not unreasonably violent.

A single staff member made an extremely feeble attempt at re-folding some discarded ski jackets but the crowd pounced on his neat stacks quickly.

A woman with several A4 sheets of orders for friends and family pushed through the chaos, the front of her trolley like the prow of an icebreaker.

Many families bring their children to try on snow gear, and the din and chaos of the store brought out the worst in the tots, their cries adding to the general sense of bedlam.

The goodness of human nature did eventually prevail, however, shoppers swapping advice and reviews on various bits of kit – the general consensus is that the outer wear is very good, the googles and accessories less so – and letting each other know the last known location of elusive small sizes.